Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2

I love the first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movie. I went into it with lowered expectations and found a new film to add to my list of all-time favorites. It is still arguably the most “fun” MARVEL movie, and they did an excellent job of introducing millions of viewers to characters who, when simply described in conversation, wouldn’t seem like characters that mainstream audiences would be interested in watching. And yet, even the oddest of the characters – perhaps the heavy-gun-toting, talking raccoon or the tree creature whose only dialogue is speaking his own name – became some of the most endeared in Marvel’s cinematic universe.

So when I say that Marvel made a sequel with more mature characters and a more mature plot, don’t take that as a slight on the first film. I still love it.

And that’s not to say that this movie was less enjoyable, either. It was still super fun, but it engaged other emotions better than the first. Each of the primary characters in this film get the opportunity to tug at your heart strings, their depth on display, from Peter Quill on down to Drax and Yondu.

That’s right, Yondu.

The trailers spoil who Kurt Russell’s character is, but I hate spoilers, so I won’t follow suit. Some people have said they are worried he was just going to be a cameo, or a side storyline tacked onto the plot. He’s not. He’s a major part of the film, and although he fits the category of “characters who sound weird when the concept is described” (like Rocket and Groot), he’s also handled quite perfectly. And I was worried.

I’ve heard people say that AWESOME MIX VOL 2 is better than AWESOME MIX VOL 1, and while I’m not ready to make that statement at this point, what I can say is that I liked the ways they incorporated the songs into GotGv2 perhaps a bit better than its predecessor. Most notably, “Brandy” by Looking Glass becomes the topic of discussion between Peter Quill and Kurt Russell’s character, the latter using the lyrics of the song to explain something. The metaphor he explains really helps give a sense of who he is and why he made certain decisions.

If you enjoyed the first Guardians Of The Galaxy, you’re likely to enjoy this one. If you loved all the characters the first time around, you’ll probably love how much depth they gave characters across the board. The music’s still fun. Nothing felt like a significant retread of what happened in the first movie. They not only moved along the GotG storyline, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe storyline as a whole. Good stuff, good flick, enjoy it with popcorn!